BEAR Scotland preparing for Storm Caroline06 Dec 2017

Amber weather warning issued for high winds on Thursday

Yellow weather warnings in place for snow and ice from Friday to Saturday evening

BEAR Scotland’s resources are prepared to assist in dealing with the “Storm Caroline” conditions with winds of up to 90mph forecast at exposed locations mainly across the north of Scotland.

An amber ‘be prepared’ weather warning has been issued for high winds across the Grampian and Highlands and Eilean Siar areas by the Met Office valid from 6am on Thursday morning until midnight.

In addition to Thursday’s amber wind warning, a yellow warning will follow from midnight for snow and ice until 6pm on Saturday.

Resources across the North West and North East units are on standby including over 100 operatives equipped to deal with issues on the trunk roads brought by the high winds, with four gully tankers as well as sandbags and water pumps available to deal with any flooding issues. Teams will work around the clock to maintain the routes and conditions across the network will be monitored 24/7 by BEAR’s control room.

As Storm Caroline will bring colder temperatures, BEAR’s winter teams will be responding by carrying out precautionary salt treatments across all trunk roads in the north east and north west of Scotland, followed by all routes being patrolled to clear any snow. BEAR’s winter fleet includes 115 vehicles across 22 depots, and teams will be on high alert to respond to any wintry conditions affecting the network.

BEAR Scotland is working closely with Police Scotland and Transport Scotland to respond to tomorrow’s high winds across the North West and North East, followed by the ice and snow that is forecast to continue until Saturday.

Eddie Ross, BEAR Scotland’s Representative for the North West, said: “At present we are preparing for the forthcoming high winds and our teams are on standby to assist in whatever way possible to keep road users safe and moving.

“In addition to our normal emergency response specialist landscaping teams will be positioned across the north of Scotland tomorrow to deal with any trees or branches that may fall on to trunk roads.

“We’re also gearing up for the forthcoming drop in temperatures and forecast snow, with our fleet of gritters and other winter vehicles ready to tackle any adverse weather conditions.

“We would advise motorists to be alert and prepare in advance for the adverse weather by checking travel information via the Traffic Scotland website, twitter or mobile site as well as local radio before setting off, allowing extra time for journeys and making sure to drive to conditions.”

Transport Scotland’s online ‘trunk road gritter tracker’, launched last winter, provides live tracking of gritters on the trunk road network. The tracker can be accessed through the Traffic Scotland website at www.trafficscotland.org/wintergritterinfo/.

Real time journey information is available from Traffic Scotland on www.trafficscotland.org or twitter @trafficscotland or the new mobile site my.trafficscotland.org.